Circular-knitting machine.



n. w. sco. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1913. 1,148,055.A Patented July 27, 1915.

I0 SHEETS-SHEET l- R. W. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY8.19I3.

1,148,055. Patented July 27, 1915.

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R. W. SCOTT. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. ArPLlcmon mw mv8.19|a.

Patented July 27, 1915.

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ZU/Zz/e/sse 5 I R. W. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR KN|TT|NG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1913. 1,148,05 5. Patented July 27; 1915.

I0 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

R. W. SCUTT. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

u nig Patented July 27, 1915.

1Q SHEETS-SHEET 5.

R. W. SCOTT. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. Arrucmou men MAY a, Lala.

Patented Jul lo sains-sneer s.

R. W. SCOTT. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. Arrllcmon rufo MY 8.1913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

l0 SHEETS-SHEET l. FQJQ R. W. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mso MAY 8.1913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

I0 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

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UUHIIIIIUIIIIIII R. W. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8.1913. 1,148,055. Patented July 27, 1915.

10 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

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R. W. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPucArwN mio MAYu, |913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

l0 SHEETS-SHEET l0.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

ROBERT W. SCOTT, OF BOSTON', MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AgCORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J u1y'2'7, 1915.

Application led May 8, 1913. Serial No. 766,401.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT 1V. SCOTT, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a machine capable of knitting articles having a selvage, edge, or end-finish integrally at an end of the article.

Another object is to provide a hosiery knitting machine capable of automatically knitting half hose or stockings having selva ges, welts, or hems of the generic character shown, described and claimed in my patents 1,015,020 and 1,045,621, granted November 20, 1012 as well as stockings characterized by outturned welts or hems having an integrally formed line of uniting stitches and a section or selvaged fabric at the neighborhood of said uniting stitches, and stockings having a welt of fabric knit upon a less number of needles than the adjacent leg or body portions thereof, and a less nnmber of uniting stitches than the wales of the fabric of the welt; and stockings having top sections characterized by integrally formed welts and a following section of fabric having lines of dropped stitches, and other fabrics.

My invention further relates to an improved combination of knitting cams, independently movable needles, and auxiliary devices or use in a circular knitting machine, as well as to the devices for supporting and automatically operating said devices, to cause the automatic actuation of the knitting instruments proper to accomplish the purposes above suggested and other purposes.

For the said objects, my invention relates to a knitting machine having devices for knitting single complete stockings or other articles having a begmning-selvage or a welt, or both, and for automatically knitting and ejecting a succession of such articles or stockings, if desired; and to the provisiony of means for knitting a drop-stitch ladder stop or preventive structure at desired parts of the article produced, whether single or in a continuous length.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a left side elevation of a hosiery knitting machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation showing the knitting head, the cam drinn, and the vertically movable thrust bars coperating therewith; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 4 is an axial vertical section of the knitting head on a plane parallel to that of Fig. 1 Fig. 5 is a diagram plan showing one arrangement of needles, needle jacks, and web-holders; Fig. 6 is an under plan view of the web-holder cam ring or cap; Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken at right angles to the drive and pattern cam shafts between the supporting frames of the machines, showing the relations of the drive mechanism and the pattern mechanism; Fig. 8 is a diagram elevation of certain cams on the surface of the pattern drum, showing their relation to cach other, to the thrustbars and to an auxiliary pawling device; Fig. 9 is a partial plan, above the table or bed for the knitting head, showing the needle-controlling or supplemental cams, their mountings and part of the devices for actuating them; the needle cylinder, the webholder dial and cams, and the latch guard ring and yarn feeding devices being removed: Fig. 10 is a development of the interior of the cam cylinder showing the knitting cams and needle controlling devices in one adjustment of the machine and also showing the paths of the needles and needle jacks during the first part of an initial course; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 showing the position of the parts at the end of the same course; Fig. 12 is a detail showing needle actuating jacks; Fig. 13 is a detail development of the cam cylinder showing a modified form of the advancing cam for needles traveling in the idle cam groove; Fig. 14 is a development of a portion of the cam cylinder showing a modified form of needle controlling devices; Fig. 15 is a diametrical section showing the relation of the needles to the latch opener Eand latch guard ring; Fig. 16 is a detail perspective of one of the cams of the needle controlling devices; Fig. 1G'i is a detail elevation showing the relation of one of the thrust bars to the means for moving one of the needle cams of the needle controlling devices; Fig. 16h is a similar view showing the relation of another thrust bar to the devices for moving another cam of the needle controlling devices; Fig. 17 `is a development showing in diagram the various cams employed on the cam drum when the machine is arranged to knit selvaged articles having stop course therein, without the employment of the auxiliary pawling attachment; Fig. 18 is a. diagram horizontal section of the needle cylinder showing the arrangement of long and short butt needles, and the relative position in a rotary sense of the auxiliary rack cam for the pattern mechanism with relation to said needles; Figs. 19 to 22 are detail horizontal sections through the needle cylinder and one of the cams of the needle controlling devices showing successive positions of said cam; Figs. 23, 24 and 25 are diametrical sections showing the relations of a Webholder, the knitting yarn and knitting needles; Fig. 26 is adevelo ment of the cam cylinder similar to Figs. 0 and 11, showing a simpler form of the needle controlling devices employing but one supplemental needle cam; Figs. 27, 28 and 29 are sections on the lines 2727, 28-28, and 29-29 respectively of Fig. 26 showing the needle j acks, needles and needle cams; Fig. 30 is a detail showing the needles; Fig. 31 is a diagram development of the cam cylinder also showing the line of movement of the hooks of the needles and their relation to the movements of the hooks of the web-holders; Figs. 32, 33, 34 and 35 are respectively figures similar to Fig. 10 showing the positions of the parts respectively for the beginning of the first course; the end thereof; the end of the second or a later course, and the middle of the third or a later course, when the machine is adjusted for knitting a certain variety of welt and top; Fig. 36 is a plan illustrating a modified form of the connections for operating the needle controlling devices; Fig.

37 is an elevation partly in section showing a controller for the auxiliary pattern pawl; Fig. 37 is a similar view at right angles to Fig. 37; Fig. 38 is an elevation of the connections shown at Fig. 36; Fig. 39 is an elevation partly in section showing a modified form of the auxiliary paWl and operating arm therefor; Fig. 40 is a diagram similar to Fig. 8 illustrating one arrangement of certain of the pattern cams; Figs. 41, 42 and 43 are diagrams illustrating articular arrangements of needles and )ac s; Fi `44 is a detail showing a modified form or the hook-end of the needles sometimes employed. y

The machine housing or frame comprises a table A mounted upon strong and rigid legs, upon the upper side of which table are erected parallel end frames B, which are in turn surmounted by a table C, together making up a strong box or frame in which the rotary elements for directing and controlling the movements of the machine are housed.

Projecting toward the left of the machine or toward the observer in Fig. 1, from the table C of the frame, is a strong shelf or table D in which is formed an annular bearing, surrounding a central opening in which a bevel gear 30 is held for rotation and against vertical movement. Said bevel gear carries for rotation about af vertical axis central With the opening in the shelf D a longitudinally grooved needle cylinder 260 having independently movable needles n therein. Said needle cylinder carries upon its upper end a web-holder dial 295 and web-holder cam 300, and the heads of the projected knitting needles are surrounded by a latch guard ring shown generally at 550, as will be specifically pointed out below. Mounted upon said latch guard ring, as shown generally at F, I may provide a number of yarn changing guides, and as shown at 425 I may provide a brush latch opener to coperate with the knitting needles. The machine has the remaining adjuncts of a circular hosiery knitting machine, such for instance as the machine shown, described and claimed in my application Serial bla-746,070, filed February 3, 1913 of which the members immediatelyfconcerned will be treated more in detail below.

Driving and power connectom.-As is usual in the art, motion is communicated to the gear 30 and the knitting head by the bevel gear 31 carried on the left end of the main drive shaft 32, which projects for this purpose beyond the left end frame B, which shaft 32 is driven through a clutch collar 33 splined on said shaft 32, which may be automatically shifted to engage a reciprocal gear 35 or a pinion 38 suitably connected to a source of power, by sliding movements of a slide 92 guided on a fixed rod 93 attached to the end .frame, which slide is in turn operated by cam surfaces on the cam drum 90 fast to and rotating with a cam shaft 80 journaled in` said end frames. The right end of the shaft 32 carries a loose pulley P and a sleeve 46 for a drive pulleyP, which may directly actuate the pinion 38 through the sleeve 46, Figs. 3 and 7. Suitable vspeed increasing gearing is provided for the operation of said shaft 32 (which may comprise a` pulley P2 loose on a concentric bushing, and means 100, 102. to shift the drive belt from drive pulley P to pulley P2) by directly driving the crank shaft 55, carrying the crank pin 61, for instance through the gearing-49, 65, between said pulley P2 and said crank shaft. The arrangement illustrated is such that rotary movements of the pinion 38, whether the driving or a driven member of the train, are related to movements of the shaft/ at a greatly reduced or increased rate, as indicated by the circles and 38, representing meshing gears providing a ratio of substantially 1:4, which proportion may, of course, be varied.

As is usual in the art, the crank. pin 61 is connected by the pitman and pin 71 With an oscillating sector on the sector shaft T0 at the back of the machine and below the main driving shaft, the radius of the pin 71 with respect to the shaft 76 being greater' than the circle swept by the pin 61. Said sector meshes into the reciprocal gear 35, which is clutched to the shaft 3Q upon the motion of the slide 92 toward the left of the machine. It should be noticed that one revolution of the shaft 55 and the gear G0 will result in one complete forward and back movement of the gear and thus in one complete or double oscillation of the knitting head, which moves in unison with the shaft The rocking movements of the sector 75 and its attachments will be related to the main drive shaft and therefore to the rotary motions of the knitting head by a constant ratio determined by the relative diameters of the pinion 3S and the gear 60. As pointed out in my said application, the pinion 38 may be no part of the driving train when the drive shaft is clutched to the reciprocal gear 35 for movements of reciprocation.

The sector 75 carries a crank arm 78 slotted at TT to receive for adjustment a crank pin 7T for a reciprocating actuator, such as the pawl 82 cooperating with a rack wheel 81 fast on the shaft SO. Said sector also carries crank pin 88 for a pawl 87 taking into the teeth of the ratchet 86 free on the shaft 80, which ratchet 86 is attached to and operates a primary pattern surface, shown as a sprocket 8l carrying a pattern chain 85. Journaled on the rod 93 is a pawl controller 83 having a chain-reading lug S3, and an integral attachment 83C standingr between the faces of the drum 90 and the rack wheel 81. Said pawl controller attachment 83 determines by its positions under the influence of spring 8l and lugs 851, 852, 853, ete. of different heights on said pattern chain the extent of the engagement of the active toe of the awl 82 with the rack wheel 81. Said rack w ieel is provided with teeth of a predetermined and irregular pitch in such an order as to enable the pawl 82 to find a tooth at or after the beginning of its constant but adjustable stroke under the control of theipawl controller attachment 83C, the effective length of stroke thus being in turn under the control of the lugs 851, 852,

ctc. upon the pattern chain. It will be seen that the wheel 81 will be operative if regnlarly cut. for instance if provided With forty-six regularly spaced teeth, but I refcr to provide long teeth on said vvhee 81 angularly spaced to bring them opposite the pawl in relation to the angular positions of the parts of the various cams necessarily given a long movement, to prevent the possibility of leaving the cam-shaft in an improper position. The clutch shifting cams on the drum 90, for instance, and the associated mechanism for controlling the heel and toe knitting devices, require such a comparatively large angular movement of the shaft S0, and long teeth 81a and 81b are provided on the wheel Sl for moving the pattern shaft and appurtenances respectively at the beginning of the heel and the beginning of the foot. Long teeth S1c and 81d similarly represent the beginning of the toe and the end thereof. The rate at which the shaft S() moves under the influence of the pawl S2 is a constant rate of one advance for each revolution of the crank shaft 55 and complete oscillation of the sector T5.

The shaft 8O is the main pattern or cam shaft determining the times of the various operations performed by the machine. The pattern chain 85 determines when anymovement of said shaft shall take place. while the rack wheel S1 in cooperation with the lugs of the pattern chain and pawl controller determines the extent of such movement. It is evident that the cycle of operations is repeated after one complete revolution of said cam shaft 80. It is therefore desirable to so order the movements of said Shaft as to provide for all of the operations of the machine during one full revolution. Said shaft projects at the left hand side as shown in Fig. 1 to receive a gear 122 meshing with a gear 123 journaled on the stud 124 projecting from the frame B, which in turn meshes with the gear 121, similar to the gear 122`r which is attached to a cam drum 120 journalcd on the projecting end of the sector shaft TG. Cams removably attached to the surface of said pattern drum, constituting a movable pattern surface, are arranged to contact with and actuate members of a series of thrust bars 00 guided at their lower ends in a comb -151 attached to a stud l50parallel with the shaft 7G and extending above the surface of said pattern drinn and at their upper ends in a comb 462 (Fig. 4) attached to a standard 401 of the shelf D. These thrust bars by their lifting movements in response to the pattern surface control various knitting agencies at the knitting head, as specifically set forth and claimed in my said application, Serial No. 740,070 including yarn changing yarn guides F. one of which may be operated as a yarn splicing device, means 565 for closing the gap in the latch ring 550 through which the yarn guides operate, an internal yarn clamp and cutter 601, a yarn take-11p device indicated generally at G25, and other knit- 4ting elements.

The above indicated mechanisms in cooperation with usualK or known knitting cams and their adjuncts form together an eilicient device for the production of Stockings, which may be made long or short, and be provided with usual yarn structures at will, by suitable variation of the pattern chain 85.

The needle cylinder and the web-holders.`The central part of the gear 30 is cut away to provide a free opening through which the forming fabric descends, and is surmounted by the upwardly extending integral sleeve 251 upon which the needle cylinder 260 is removably mounted. The cylinder 260 is held to rotate with the sleeve 251 by the key 252 sliding in a longitudinal keyway on the inner side of said cylinder 260. The cylinder 260 may thus be moved in a vertical sense with respect to the gear 30 and the sleeve 251, without disturbing its rotative adjustment with respect to said gear 30 or the other elements of the machine. The cylinder 260 may be of any approved construction but I prefer to employ an inserted wall or built-up needle cylinder, such as that illustrated in the drawings, and which briefly may consist of a grooved casting having independently removable needle guiding walls inserted in the grooves and held in place by a beveled collar attached to the bottom of said cylinder. To provide for such vertical movement the gear 30 is bored through, as at 255, Fig. 4, in three places to receive supports 256, which may be hard steel pins, all of the same length. The bores 255 are in line with the bottom of the needle cylinder, which freely rests upon the ends of said pins by gravity, and by reason of the stress due to the coperation of needles frictionally held in their grooves with fixed cams whose advancing slopes are flatter than their retracting slopes, when the machine is running. The pins 256 in turn rest upon, and by reason of the motion of the gear 30, rotate with respect to a ring 257, which may be a hardened and polished steel ring, or be provided with a suitable anti-friction surface, as by making it of bronze, which ring has a bearing within the inner machined face of a depending cylindrical flange 259 of the bed-plate D.. The ring 257 is vertically movable within said flange 259 by the vertical movement of a hollow tubular column 280 concentric with the knitting axis which fits within said flange 259 at its -upper end and upon which the ring 259 rests.

Column 280 is lifted and lowered throu h short distances to automatically vary t e stitch lenfth by means of the two-armed lever 281 Figs. 1 and 3) journaled on the stud L50 and having a depending head 282 resting near the front face of the drum 120, carrying adjustable plungers to follow cams upon said cam drum as indicated at 511, 512, 515and 51-,1 in Fig. 7. The other arm of the lever 281-` terminates in a flat taking onthe under side of a lug 287 screwed on the column 280. The lower end of the said column rests freely in a ring-bearing 390 bolted on the under side of the table A, but is restrained from falling by the cam lug 391 resting upon a plunger 393 in a bore on said ring 390, all as pointed out in detail and claimed in said application, Serial No. 746,070. Column 280 is for convenience provided with a hand-hole K. In order to pre` vent ends of single stockings, or the beginning of a piece of fabric from being centrifugally thrown through said hand-hole, I provide a fixed drag wire or rod 404, Fig. 4, attached to the column 280 by a screw at 406, (Fig. 3) and having an outward bend 405 at its reduced upper end housed in the annular groove between the sleeve 251 and the nosing 297, in which it has suflicient play to permit the free rotation of said sleeve and nosing. The lower end of the forming tube of fabric is kept twisted and in a central position by striking said drag at each revolution. Completed articles when cast off the needles drop freely through the open lower end of the column 280, under which a basket or receptacle may be placed.

The machine is equipped with independently movable latch needles n of a wellknown type, which may be tensioned needles, laterally bent to cause friction in their grooves. The knocking-over plane below which the old loops may not be carried is determined by the upper surface of the upper inwardly extending arms 291 of `webholders 292 (see Figs. l and 23 to 25) movable in the grooves of a radially grooved bed or dial 295 rigidly mounted upon the extreme upper end of the outer face of the needle cylinder, upon a flange 296 having deep longitudinally milled grooves in line with the needle grooves to provide spaces for the removal of the needles. The grooves of the web-holder bed or dial 295 stand midway between spaces occupied by the needle grooves, and the inboard ends of the webholders 292 are received and guided by a nosing 297 fast in the enlarged or counterbored end 248 of the needle cylinder 260.

The construction of the web-holders 292, of

the nosing 297, and the web-holder bed 295, may be the same as that illustrated in the patent to George D. Mayo, 726,178, April 21, 1903.

By reason of the attachment of the Webholder bed 295 and the nosing 297 to the needle cylinder 260, the knocking-over plane defined by the upper surface of the arms 291 of the Web-holders may be lifted or lowered to increase or decrease the stitch length at all of the needles with res ect to the shelf D, the fixed cam cylinder 2 1, and the knitting cams carried thereby, by the agency of the pins 256, the movable ring 257, the column 280 and said automatic means coperating with said column.

At a point directly at the front 0f the machine the flange Q70 of the cam cylinder 271 carries a rigid upright post 400. Mounted on a reduced portion 301 of the webholder bed Q95 by means of depending flange 302. and hold-down clamps 318, a webholder cam ring 300 is adjustably held against rotation with the needle cylinder in either direction by stop-screws 303 in lugs 304 straddling the post 400, and permitting a suilicicnt lost motion to render the adjustments for opposite rotations independent of each other.

The underside of the web-holder cam ring (see F ig. 0) is provided with a concentric groove 305 for the control of the butts 298 of the web-holders 202, as usual. At a point opposite the lugs sL and directly at the back of the machine as viewed in Fig. 3 said ring 100 is provided with a cam p0rtion 300. which cam presents two withdrawing inolnes 30T, 30S to give the web-holding hooks 200 an outward radial movement at the knitting cams. The incline 308 is displaced toward the following stitch cam, in the direction for rotary work (Figs. 6 and 31) to delay the withdrawal of the webholders until after the passage of the needles down the face of the top center cam 8. This construction is useful when making a starting selvage, or welt, as will presently appear.

Adjustable cams 309 pivoted on each side of the outthrow cam 30G determine the inward'throw of the web-holders 292, which movement is so related to the stitch cams as to cause full insertion of the web-holders at or immediately after the point at which the needles have fully descended. cams 309 are housed in deep slots milled through the depending iange 302, which flange is also cut `away at 310 to provide a discharge opening for broken parts.

The /mz'ttz'nf/ Cams and needle controlling devices-ln common with usual types of hosiery knitting machines, the needles nmay comprise a series filling substantially onehalf the grooves in the needle cylinder having long butts n', which may be placed out of operation at the instep of the stocking, and a complemental series of short butt needles n2 filling the remainder of the cylinder, as shown in Figs. 5 and 30.

yMy Vpresent machine is organized to automatically begin knitting upon a suilicient number of its needlesto safely institute the formation of fabric. In my said Patent 1,045,621, I have shown and described a beginning selvage for knit'webs involving the first two courses of yarn knit upon otherwise bare needles, having many advantages relating 4to the fabric as an article of use. One of the utilities of said fabric lies in the assistance which it gives to the machine instruments at starting, and` Said the present machine is organized to knit this structure, in aid of its devices for automatically starting tubular knitting with any kind of yarn, including hard, resilient yarns, at high speeds, on previously bare needles, and thus to permit the automatic manufacture of wholly separate stockings, complete except for the closure at the toe.

Referring now to Fig. 20, for the usual stocking-landing purposes the machine is provided with paired or reciprocal stitch cams (i and 7 and with top and bottom center cams S and 9. The cam cylinder 271 is a short rigid cylindrical structure terminating at its upper end in a ledge 1 upon which the butts of all of the knitting needles n travel when they have finished their stitch forming movements. Said ledgeis at a level insufliciently high to carry the needles to a point at which the stitches engaged in the hooks 200 of the web-holders 291 will be cleared below the latches. At a point at the rear of the machine, the cylinder 271 is cut away to form a broad V-shaped Opening from which the slopes, 5, 5 lead in opposite directions to return to the ledge the butts of any needles which mav be depressed into said opening. Central of this opening at the back of the machine and fast in a vertical slot milled a part way through the thickness of the cam cylinder 971 is a vertical standard (Figs. 10, 26 and 29) upon which the bottom center cam 9 and top center cam 8 having their inner faces flush with that of cam cylinder 271 are mounted by screws 358. 'The lower surface of the bottom center cam 9, under which there is a free path 10 for the needle-butts, is higher than the lower points of the stitch cams 0 or 7, while its upper surface is level with the ledge 4 and in a position leaving a passage-way between said cams 8 and 9 slightly exceeding in width the Width of the needle butts. Cam 8 is flat at the top and is provided with downward slopes 8a to take and carry down needles approaching it at a level higher than that. of the ledge 4.

The stitch cams proper 6 and 7 are triangular bodies having sloped upper surfaces 6, 7 extending from a point beneath the level Aof the ledge 4 to a point sufficiently high to lift needles encountering said slopes, with respect to the knocking-over line determined by the upper arms of the webholders 292, to cause the latches of the needles to clear their previous loops. The cams 6 and 7 may be of hardened steel, and in practice are carried upon the inner surface of a half-cylinder or segment 370 (Figs. 4, 9 and 29) held to the surface of the ledge and guided for radial movement by means comprising a gib or key 372, on the plane central between said cams 6 and 7, but normally held inward to hold the cams 6 and 7 flush with the inner face of the cam cylinder 271 by means of the spring 379 reacting against an attachment of the standard 401 at the rear of the shelf D.

The advancing surfaces at 5, 5, 6a and 7 are materially Hatter than the depressing surfaces of the cams 6, 7, and 8, the effect of which is the secure holding of the comparatively light needle cylinder 260 upon its supports 256, by reason of the reaction of the ten sioned needles in their grooves during the operation of the machine. Said cams 6 and 7 are recessed at their tops in a manner familiar in the art, to provide resting points for the narrowing pickers 650, 650, which may be the devices of the prior art, although I prefer to employ those shown, described and claimed in my said application, Serial No. 746,070, comprising brieiy two pickers 650 mounted for vertlcal swinging movements in heads 660 rotatable in vertical bores in brackets 653, which brackets carry cams 665 acting to elevate the pickers when they are moved toward the radial plane passing between them, said heads being connected to-gether by a link 667, so that the operative movement of one picker will position the other for operation.

Preceding the stitch or knitting cams 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the direction for rotary and round-and-round knitting, I provide a switch cam 415, mounted upon a radial stem 410, and having an operating arm 409, Fig. 3 spring-pressed against the top of a vertical rod 216 engaging the forward end of a lever 215, Fig. 1, journaled on the stud 124, the other end of which lever takes against the surface of the pattern drum 120 to be operated by cams 509 thereon. The body of the switch cam 415 may be mounted eccentrically upon the stem 410, as shown in Fig. 26, to provide a free passage under said :am for needles in the elevated or cleared position.

I have shown in Fig. 10 an alternative construction comprising a guide cam 408 fixed to the bracket 411 in which the spindle 410 is journaled, and having down-going slopes to engage elevated needles encountering said cam, to return them to the level of the ledge 4. Either of these constructions may be employed to secure the safe passage of the switch cam 415 by needles left in an elevated path upon a reverse stroke of the machine. The function and operation of the switch cam 415 otherwise may be those of the prior art, for which reference may be made to the said patent to George D. Mayo, No. 726,178.

Preceding the switch cam and conveniently at the front of the machine and mounted in the standard 400, I provide a widening picker 680 and operating means therefor which may be the same as those of my said application, and a positioning cam 416 for said picker. So `far as described the said devices constitute means, which upon their operation in an order well known in'the prior art will functionate to produce a cir` cular knit tube of fabric, having heel and toe pockets therein, which tube may be made wider and narrower at parts by alterations of the length of the stitch. None of the means so far described will be sufficient to provide an end finish or welt or other permanent edge-structure at the top of the stocking or the toe thereof.

Referring now to Figs. l2 and 26 to 31, I provide in the lower part of the cam cylinder 271 a groove 365 for coperation with the butts of independently movable jacks 380 carried in the same grooves of the needle cylinder 260 as certain of the needles. in the arrangement shown alternate needles, although it will be understood that a different arrangement of the jacks may be made at will. Said jacks 380 are held from being thrown centrifugally outward by their contact with the inner face of the cani cylinder 271. At a point well in advance of the leading stitch cam 7 for rotary knitting an A- shaped opening is formed in said cam cylinder 271 beneath which a jack cam 366, for advancing the jacks and their associated needles, is suitably fastened. The height of the cam 366 and the length of the jacks 380 are such as to advance those needles n provided with jacks suiliciently to clear their stitches, as clearly indicated in Fig. 26. Motion of the jacks with respect to the cani 366 and the needles is thus effective to sort the needles into two different series, but in coperation with the cams so far described no other effect would follow, since the needles so cleared will merge with and operate like their fellows at and following the cam 7. In the form illustrated in Fig. 26, as well as those of the remaining figures, I utilize Said Jacks, however, for the performance of special operations calling for the separation of the needles'into anidle and operative set intercalated among each other, and to this end the needle controllin devices comprising said jacks also comprise a radially movable supplemental or needle controlling cam 382 preceding the forward end of the leading stitch cam-7, so placed and of such dimensions as to bring the leading end of said cam 382 at a level between the needles n advanced by the jacks and the needles without jacks moving upon the ledge 4. Needles affected by said cam are carried lbeneath the stitch cam 7and beneath the bottom center cam 9, in a position in which said needles are withdrawn into their carrier, and bodily beneath the knocking-over plane determined by the web-holders 292, and therefore in a position too low to engage the yarn, which is fed from one of the guides F at a position substantially coincident with the center cams 8 and 9.

hile I have shown the cam 382 in a position tov control needles to cause their entrance into the idle groove l() through the groove leading under the stitch cam 7, it will be obvious that the entrance to the said groove l() may be provided as a Special groove at any point in the -cylinder 271 between the switch cam 415 and said cani 7. Such needles as have been so retracted into their carrier, which are the needles without jacks, it will be noticed have not been previously lifted to a point at which their loops are cleared below their latches, and if the needle has taken yarn at a previous passage the described retraction of the needle will take place while the needle is retainingr its loop in its hook. At a point following the stitch cams the needles so retracted rejoin the normal knitting path along the down-going face of the cam 6 at or near its apex, and there after ascend the following incline 5 in conipany with the other needles.

Referring now to Fig. 5, which is a diagram showing a greatly less number of instruments than are actually employed` for clearness, the normal relation of the long and short butt needles, of the web holders 292 and the jacks 380 will be clear. During normal round-and-round knitting, the butts of all of the needles travel on the ledge i in the direction of the arrow. The position shown in Fig. 26 is that for such knitting. For the remainder of the rotary operation, the needle butts will travel upon said ledge 4 except as they are interfered with by the knitting .cams and the needle controlling devicesd T hose needles provided with jacks will be cleared at a point immediately following the switch cam 415, while the remaining needles will pass to the surface 7 of the stitch cam 7, Where they will be cleared and rejoin the remaining needles in the normal knitting path passing between the center cams 8 and 9 and down the face of the stitch cam 6, during which passage they take yarn.

To coperate with that form of my devices shoivn in Fig. 26 I may provide among the long butt needles n and near the end of the series n last encountered by the leadlng stitch cam 7, in the direction for rotary knitting, a series of medium butt needles n3 (Figs. 5 and 30) of suflicient length to be operated like the long butt needles bythe switch cam. which series exceeds in width the face of the supplemental cam 382, and in practice may be several times the extent of said face, to secure a starting point for the entrance of the cam 382 upon the needles, which are too close together to permit the face of the cam to actuate an unbroken series of alternate needles at a convenient time for the movement of the pattern surface.

Referring to Fig. 5 in which the arrow indicates the direction of rotation of the needle cylinder (which is opposite to the ef fective direction of the wave in the needles produced by the stationary cams coacting with them) it will be seen that the cam 382 may be inserted during the movement of the needles when opposite the series having the medium butts u and that it will then first encounter and move the needles a of the series n', so much of the butt of the needle a as is represented by the difference between the height of the medium and long butts being acted upon by the active face of said cam 382. Further inward movement of the "cam 382 may be made as soon as suliicient of the needles beginning with said needle l have passed down thc face of the cam 382 to uncover a gap of the width of the cam. The second stage of the movement of said cam may thus follow its entrance upon the needles at a very short interval. The essential of this movement is that it should be completed so far as to take the cam 382 to a position to encounter and move the leading short butt needle n2, not provided with a jack, down the face of the cam 382 upon the passage of said needle, which needle is indicated upon Fig. 5 at b. Cam 382 by a two-stage movement has now reached an inward position to encounter and move any length of needle butt. Thus befrinning with the needles a each of the needles not provided With a jack 380 Will be taken beneath the stitch cams and into its carrier while retaining its previous loop, if the operation is carried out while there is fabric upon the needles. The entrance of the cam 382 into the line of movement of the needles will not affect, however, such needles as are provided with jacks, which needles are cleared by the cooperation of the cam 366 and move in their normal path at and following the cam 8. Said normally operated needles when they pass down the active face of the stitch cam 6 draw the runs of yarns extending between them down against the hooked ends of those needles affected by the cam 382. It is an invariable effect of the described devices to throw the run of yarn so held behind those needles which did not take it. The eect is greatly aided if not entirely dueto the movement given to the web-holders 292..

Referring now to Figs. 31 and 23 to 25, the described construction of the retracting cams 307 and 308 for the web-holders results in retaining them in their full advanced position during the passage of the normally operated needles down the face of the top center cam 8. The position of the webholders at the beginning and end of the movement of recession of the needles in the knitting path due to the cam 8 is the inward position illustrated in Fig. 24. The web-holders non7 recede to the position of Fig. 28, at the line 23-23 of Fig. 31 to permit the new yarn to be taken tothe level of the upper surface of their arms 291, and beneath their hooks 290, this movement oo curring substantially during the passage of the needles across the level at the top of the cam 9. The web-holders are now reinserted at or closely following the completion of the loop drawing movement of the needles passing down the face of the cam These movements will be more apparent from an inspection of the diagram Fig. 31 in which the line 292 (arbitrarily drawn in a vertical plane) indicates the forward and withdrawn positions of the web-holders in comparison with the line N, representing the eomplemental positions of the heads of the needles. The dotted arrows aud dotted lines upon said figure indicate the respective movements upon the reverse or reciprocatory stroke. Notice should be taken that in the direction for rotary knitting, there is no withdrawal of the web-holders at any time when the needles are at an elevation suflicient to clear the yarn held in the hooks 290 beneath the points of their latches. The advancing movement of the needles which have passed beneath the stitch cams in a position of retraction, at the following slope 5, is made in coperation with web-holders thrust inwardly to their limit of movement, except for a permitted negligible fraction d of the needle advancing movement following the lower apex of cam 6, which in dilnensions willV never exceed the distance of the hook of a retracted needle beneath the knockingover plane p at said apex.

The effect of the above motions of the needles and webholders, if there is previous fabric upon them at the time of the described motions of the cam 382, will be to cause those needles without jacks to withhold their loops, and then to rejoin the remaining needles traveling on the ledge 4, prior to the feeding of the yarn and making 'of another course, in a position at which the needle holding a withheld loop is in front of the run of yarn joining the adjacent normally Operated needles. The resulting stitch is that sometimes known as a drawstitch, in which a loop of a previous course is interknit at a later, but not a succeeding course, the yarn or yarns of the intervening course or courses not being ineluded in the loop held out, but passing at the back thereof. This structure is effective when occurring in a single course to form a stop for the running ofv a line of drop stitches, as pointed out in the patent to Loretto A. Costello No. 976,555, November 22, 1910, and it will be understood that I may operate the needle controlling devices at such times during the production of a stocking as to produce the structures covered in the said patent and shown in Fig. 4

thereof, by pattern mechanism presently to be described. I may, for instance, actuate the cam 382 so as to bring it into contact with the leading long butt needle, without a jack, then further actuate it during the next passage of the long butt needles so as to run off the end of the long butts before encountering the leading short butt needle b. This will produce a structure in which the stop-course of draw stitches in alternate wales will extend over two intervening courses in the wales from the long butt needles and over but one intervening course in the walesof the short butt needles. As an automatic operation so moving the cam 382 is desirable only in the case of knit structures having a relatively small number of yarn changes, stitch length changing movements, et cetera, in view of the long segment of the surface of the pattern drum necessarily occupied by a cam for this purpose. I therefore usually employ, with the devices of Fig. 2G, the arrangement of needles illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 including the medium butt needles n3, in which only the few long butt needles following the needle a will be actuated for a second time and the elapsed movement of the needle cylinder between the entrance and exit of the cam 382 will be confined to one revolution plus the angular extent of said few long butt needles.

The starting-salvage devices-If the described operation of the cam 382 should take place, however, prior to the operation of any of the yarn guides F to feed yarn and with respect t0 bare needles, it will be obvious that only such needles as have jacks will take the yarn at all at the first course, and that the described action of the webholders will. cause the runs of the yarn between the needles which have taken it to be thrust behind the needles without jacks, which, having been withdrawn bare into their carrier, pass upwardly at the slope 5 in front of such runs of yarn in the position shown for the needle 71,5 in Fig. 24. Said needles without jacks will remain in this position until they are again actuated by the cam 382 or by the slope 7a of the cam 7, in which latter case they are elevated to the clear position and again retracted to the tuck position illustrated by the needle n* in Fig. 23 before they take yarn. The needles with jacks, if the cam 382 should be rendered inoperative at a second or a later course, will thus cooperate, for an initial course, with yarns passing behind the needles ianking them, and because of the described motions of the Webholders,'said needles which initially took the yarn will descend to the yarntaking or tuck position of Fig. 24 with respect to a loop of yarn held tautly against the fronts of their shanks by the Webholders 292, which do not recede until the needles have reached the tuck position. This secures the entrance of the yarn of the initial course between the shank of the needle and the end of the open latch, and insures the closure of the latch upon the new yarn at the second course of the needles provided with jacks. The needles Without jacks which did not take the yarn at the first course and the needles with jacks, which have a tensioned loop held against their faces, Will be again separated before the completion of the first course, but it will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 26 that upon the withdrawal of the cam 382 to a position to cease the special operation of the needles without jacks upon the passage of the last high butt' needles, all the said needles without jacks will be lifted by the slope 7, still without having received any yarn, and thence enter the knitting cams to first take yarn. The leading needle to be thus actuated at the second or a later course is Ohe leading short butt needle Without a jack, in this case the needle b, Figs. 5 and 26. During the knitting of the third or next course the behavior of the webholders with respect to the needles without jacks which have been rst fed on the second course will be the same as that described for the needles With jacks at the second course, the described movements ,of the Webholders to maintain the yarn between the needles taut during the first part of the retracting movement of the needles again insuring the tensioning of the forming edge of the fabric against the face of the needles during the placing over said yarn of the latches of the descendin needles, to close said latches upon the new y taken loop.

I begin knitting by moving one of the yarn changing yarn carriers from an idle position to an active position, all of said yarn carriers having previously been thrown to an idle position, and by simultaneously therewith or previously thereto inserting the cam 382 into its operative innermost position flush with the face of the cam 7 It is not only necessary to insure the taking of the latches of the needles first taking the yarn over said yarn at a second course to enable them to begin to knit, but it is also necessary to open the latches for this purose.

p The latch openen-The beginning of a stocking or article will usually occur after several revolutions of the machine during which the needles of the machine are bare and move idly. To open the latghes during this interval, I provide a brush latch opener 425, Fig. 15, preferably such as that described and claimed in my application Serial No. 845,845 filed June 1S, 1914, a division of said application Serial No. 746,070, at the relative position clearly indicated in Fig. 26, where it will encounter needles rising along the slope 5. As shown in Fig. 15, said latch opener comprises a thin brush wheel having radial tufts 426 mounted for rotation on a screw stud 427 projecting at an angle of substantially 45 to the knitting axis from a bore in an `arm 428 in which it is locked by a jam nut. Said arm (see Fig. 1l is adjustably screwed upon the latch guard ring 556, which ring is cut away to permit the brush 425 to contact with the needles at a point immediately above the upper part of their rise due to the said slope 5, which is active in the direction for rotary work. The out out portion 551 of the latch guard ring may be a mere enlargement of the cut usually made at this point to give the opening latches room to swing in it. As is usual in the art, the unbroken Wall of the latch ring extends around needles whose butts are traveling on the ledge 4, or in a more elevated position, to prevent the open latches from closing until the needle has been lowered beyond its influence.

The provision of a rotary wheel brush, it will be seen, is not essential, its use being merely for the purposes of increasing the length of wear and providing against accumulation of lint.

The pattern meckam'sm.-As above mentioned, the devices of the cam cylinder, including the movable member 382 of the needle controlling devices are pattern operated from a connection comprising one of the vertically movable thrust bars 460, Fig. 2, for instance that bar 46()h at the extreme left of the series.

Referring now to Fig. 9, the cam 382 may be made as a radial slide mounted on a standard 490, forming a part of a bracket 19 attached as by screws 22 to the table D, and thrust radially outward from the axis of tlie knitting head by a spring 1-1 acting on a plunger 13 in a bore in said standard taking against the down-turned outer end 12 of said cam slide. A lever -187 fulcrumed at 488 upon an attachment of said bracket 19 cooperates at its other end with a cam 485, Fig. 16", attached for adjustment to the outer faceof the thrust bar 460h near its upper end by screws 486. The cam 485 is provided with a `surface having three heights or levels f, g, la., joined by cam slopes. The elevation of the bar 460 to the positions indicated at I, II, III will cause the movement of the lever 487 to the positions similarly indicated on Fig. 16", and the corresponding movement of the said cam 382. The position I is a position of rest in which the cam 382 will fail to contact With any of the needles; the position II is a position of advance in which said cam will encounter the long butt needles n having no jacks; and the position III is such as to bring said cam nearly into contact with the needle cylinder.

Referring now to Fig. 17, which is a development of the surface of the cam drum 120, illustrating one arrangement of the removable cams mounted upon the surface of said drum, I have shown at 507 pattern' cams having an intermediate level 5075 at each end thereof, for successively actuating the thrust bar 460 from a position of rest against the face of the drum, corresponding to the position I of Fig. 16, to the positions II and III, and the return of said bar through said positions in an opposite order.

Recalling that pawl 82 makes one`forward stroke during substantially two whole revolutions of the needle cylinder, it will be seen that I may actuate the rack wheel 81, upon one stroke of said pawl 82, through a sufficient angular distance to carry the whole of one of the cams 507 under theiend of the thrust bar 460k.

0n Fig. 17 the line X-X indicates the position of rest for the pattern drum (some of the cams thereon which actuate levers 'at 90 or 180o removed from the thrust bars being arbitrarily shown as if rotated to ,A bring them in line with the cams actuating the thrust bars at the same times, for clearness,) when the machine is adjusted to knit a womans stocking having a selvage at the beginning edge thereof and a drop Stich stop line near the top of the leg. It will be seen that prior to bringing the thrust bars to the line X-X, the cam drum was positioned to bring the respective cams 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, etc. underthe entire series of thrust bars, except the thrust bar 4:60h coperating with the'selvage and stop devices. This operation resulted among other things in adjusting to or retaining each of the yarn guides` F controlled by the respective cams 502,r 503, 504 `and 505 in their idle position; to cease feeding yarn, to enable the needles, aided by the web-holders, to cast oli' the previous fabric, and in actuating the yarn cutter 601, by means-of a cam 506 and its associated thrust bar, to cut the yarn extending from the previous stocking, and clamp the cut end ready for insertion again; and by means of the cam 512, in positioningthe lever281 to adjust the length of the stitch for the top of the ensuing stocking. This position of the cam drum was reached when the pawl 82 has moved, to the limit of its stroke, the tooth s of the rack wheel 81. This movement of the tooth .s was permitted by the action of one of the lugs 851 on the pattern chain 85 upon the chain reading lug 83*l of the pawl controller 83, and at the completion of the movement o'f the rack wheel 81,l

the pattern shaft 8,0, and its connected pattern drum 120, the said lug was taken from under the chain reading lug 83n by the operation of the pawl 87, which actuated its ratchet during the back stroke of the pawl 82. VThe rack wheel 81 will now remain at rest during the idle operation of the machine from the thrust bar connected `to a second yarn guide F to drop it into an operative n position; in moving the cam 509 with respect to the lever 215 to position first the switch cam l415 and then the widening picker out of contact with any of the needles, and in moving the cam 512 co erating with the lever 291 to adjust the nee le cylinder for a proper length of stitch. Such movement is sulicient in magnitude to take the leading cam 507 on said drum 120 completely under the thrust bar 4:60h to successively actuate the cam 382 to bring it to the position II to cause said` cam to approach the faces of the needles n then passing its face, and then after a s ufiicient interval to permit the actuation of the needles a and the following few long butt needles; to moveit to the position III before its encounter v'with the leading needle b of the short butt series; to maintain saidV cam in the innermost position 3 during the passage of all the short butt needles, the leading long butt needles and the medium butt needles n3, and then to withdraw said cam 382 to the intermediate position II in which position it will actuate the last long butt needle without a jack; and to thereafter withdraw said cam to its position of rest, I. The timing of these operations, it will be noticed depends upon the dimensions of the cam 507, and the rate of movement of the pawl 82. The rate of movement of the pawl 82 is as above pointed out, a constant function of the rate of rotation of the needle cylinder, and I am enabled to accurately position the cam 382 with respect to the rapidly moving needles by accurate adjustment of the cams 507 and 485. v

The operation of the cam V382 at a later time, to make the drop-stitch stop device, is accomplished by providing a second cam 507, in all respects similar to the first cam upon the drum 120, and by causing the paw] "82 -to coperate with the rack wheel 81 in the same manner as above described.

It will be noticed that, as one instance of the adjustable arrangement of the cams upon drum 120, I have shown in Fig. `17 a the formation of the selvage stop course.

Other exchanges of yarn guides, at any de- 

